Bright

-1-

"Elle! Come on! I want to get to Diagon Alley BEFORE they close all the shops!" Draco bellowed from the bottom of the stairs leading to the entryway of the manor.

Earlier on in the summer, probably around mid-June, Draco received a letter from an unknown address in western Russia. It didn't take long for the young wizards to figure out that it was from Drumstrang, and they wanted Draco to attend their wizarding school. Draco seemed elated at the idea that a school in Russia practically scouted him. While Lucius also fancied the idea, Narcissa couldn't bear the thought of her son moving so far away from them for nine months out of the year. Elle agreed with this notion, since she and Draco vowed to each other when they were younger that nothing was going to tear them apart, and that they would do everything together. Now, Elle never really put her hope in things as mundane as a promise made between two eight-year-old children in the middle of a sugar high, but she knew Draco was special to her, and she couldn't face the idea of him not being around all of the time.

Waves of relief flooded her spirit when Draco sent a thankful rejection to Drumstrang, and accepted the invitation to attend Hogwarts with her. She knew that Draco was excited to go to Hogwarts with her, especially since he was a Malfoy, and Malfoy's carried fame wherever they went, especially within the confines of their new school. She didn't know much about her name. She was a Gaunt. She knew that this was a pureblood family name, but there was never a record of her family. Lucius and Narcissa knew who her father was, and was always insistent that he was a good man when it came to her, but she had a hard time believing that. Because if he was a good man to her, why would he leave? She kept these questions to herself, maybe she would learn the truth soon enough. Maybe she would get to meet him.

She doesn't have very many memories of her father. She only has one, and that is him singing this song to her, almost like a lullaby. She didn't know the words, but she knew the tune. It was always her favorite tune. It calmed her down when she was sad, or mad, or feeling anything less than happy. She would catch herself at random times just humming the tune. She always thought about putting her own words to it, but she hoped that one day her father would sing them to her, so she refrained.

Lucius was the only one that knew the tune by heart. He was the only one that could calm her down. She didn't know how she was going to cope with being away from him for so long. She appreciated Lucius and Narcissa for taking her in. She knew that it must have been a difficult task for them, especially having a son of their own to take care of, but they never showed discontentment when taking care of her, they only showed love, and for that she would be forever grateful.

"Elle!! Any day now?!" Draco called again.

"Coming Draco!"

Elle made her way out of her bedroom in the manor. She was grateful to have her own room. She carried her bag containing her monthly allowance of galleons around her shoulder. Narcissa had gotten it for her the christmas that they started doing allowances. "Think of it as a nice end of year gesture for all of your help through the year" she recalled Narcissa saying. She remembered that this made Draco so jealous. "When you start helping me maybe you'll get an end of year gift too." Narcissa would say to a crying six-year-old Draco. Draco didn't seem to think that the gift was worth a full year of "hard labor" as he referred to it. He still got an allowance, of course. This didn't bother Elle though, because she liked the idea of earning her allowance, and paying back the people who took her in.

Elle made her way down the stairs of the manor looking at Draco with wide eyes.

"Ready?"

"I have been for 30 minutes"

"Oh shut up Draco" Elle said playfully, punching Draco's arm lightly. Of course, he acted like she broke him.

"Ow! Elle!"